While some outdated educators are hung up on making students sit, stare, and copy down their every word (by hand!), innovative educators know there is a better way.

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While some outdated educators are hung up on making students sit, stare, and copy down their every word (by hand!), innovative educators know there is a better way. At this year's #NYCSchoolsTech Summit teachers came together to learn about innovative ways to support teaching and learning but they weren't focused on taking notes.

That's because of two strategies that were put into place that took care of that.

1) Hashtags & Handles: Everyone knew the conference hashtag, each session had a hashtag, and each presenter's Twitter handle was provided. This means that everyone at the conference was collectively taking notes and able to tag presenters via social media platforms. They all came to the conference knowing that there would be participants who took seriously the job of collecting what they heard with the world. They knew they could report, respond, or just read the takeaways. Ultimately the report outs can be seen via platforms like Tagboard.com and Storify. Visit this link to view the live Tagboard

2) Digital Agendas & Materials: For every session there is a digital agenda that included the session presentation and all materials. Several of the sessions were live streamed. This allows participants to get to the thinking faster: When participants know they have all session notes and materials, they don't need to take notes on what you are saying because they have it already. Instead they are making meaning of what you are saying because they have the materials. Additionally because they have the presentation, they an easily take what they've learned, bring it back to their school customized with their own personal flare. The other advantage for live streamed sessions is that those who couldn't be there in person, could watch remotely and those who had multiple sessions they want to attend, could view later. Love what you learn in a session? Share with others and tag the presenter on Twitter.

Lisa Nielsen writes for and speaks to audiences across the globe about learning innovatively and is frequently covered by local and national media for her views on “Passion (not data) Driven Learning,” "Thinking Outside the Ban" to harness the power of technology for learning, and using the power of social media to provide a voice to educators and students. Ms. Nielsen has worked for more than a decade in various capacities to support learning in real and innovative ways that will prepare students for success. In addition to her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator, Ms. Nielsen’s writing is featured in places such as Huffington Post, Tech & Learning, ISTE Connects, ASCD Wholechild, MindShift, Leading & Learning, The Unplugged Mom, and is the author the book Teaching Generation Text.

Disclaimer: The information shared here is strictly that of the author and does not reflect the opinions or endorsement of her employer.